The gap is narrowing, and Australia need to move ahead of the curve

Football columnist

Must keep moving forward: Australia cannot settle for just making the World Cup. Photo: Reuters

It has been the most bewitching, beguiling World Cup in living memory for most of us, a thrilling barrage of attacking football that has left everyone, certainly here in Brazil, needing a rest day to draw breath and savour what we have just lived through.

Everything that we had hoped for from the 20th World Cup held in the land of jogo bonito and the most awesome love for the game there ever has been.

Games on Copacabana all hours of the day and night, many joined by this humble correspondent who has not, sadly, represented Australia or former Socceroos well at all – quite the contrary, but wonderfully enjoyable all the same.

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A blancmange of colours and cultures, all coming together in Rio to share a love for football, the common language of the world.

Typically, the knockout stages induce a wariness in coaches that would indicate a step back in goals per game but, with numerous, stunning matches already behind us, who knows? Perhaps the spirit of the Brazilian greats has infused the tournament and we shall see equally surprising performances and results from now till mid next month.

We certainly hope so – us and the rest of the world.

Ratings are off the chart all around the world and through football we come to better understand countries we would otherwise likely never cross.

Regular readers know I am forever banging on about how Australia needs to play, to show our culture and character to the world and, to this end, witness the Algerian journey to the knockout stage.

After a tepid first loss against Belgium, the Algerians have played some of the most beautiful, vibrant and skilled football in the entire tournament thus far and my question is what has this done to the image of Algeria around the world? Or Costa Rica, who have created a new vision of their country and people by playing with courage and no small ability.

The effect can be nothing but positive, as was the international reaction to the Socceroos' unexpected performances – by all except us, of course.

Each time at successive World Cups, as I watch and attend quarter-finals, semis and finals, I try to imagine what it would be like for Australia to be there, to be this good, to possess an Andrea Pirlo or Fernando Gago, Oscar or Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller or Wesley Sneijder. To be a prospective champion, one of the best in the world.

Can you possibly imagine? Over the past eight years, we shared three very different journeys, with wins and losses, some close and others not so, and the nation revelled in the pressure, the tension, the build-up and let down.

And yet, we are not even close. We are building, and growing, and learning from each edition in order to avoid the boom and bust cycle of many nations, including Japan and South Korea, who both crashed out here after making the round of 16 in South Africa.

Once we hit the next level, we aim to make the knockout stage every time, before moving forward to become good enough for the semis and, later, the final, never falling back a stage like snakes and ladders.

I believe our target should be to win the greatest sporting title in the world, and the last that Australia must achieve, by 2046. That's eight tournaments from now. With an average age of 26 for winning players, this means our champion players will be born in six years time.

The challenge for Australian football is to continue to develop the A-League, our coaching levels, the school programs to provide an optimal environment in 10 years' time, when these children start playing. Very little time, none to waste.

England provide an excellent example for us, never quite able to conceptualise what is needed to overcome their 50 years of failure and not seeing those pulling alongside nor passing them as they falter.

Former Tottenham and England midfielder Jamie Redknapp, now pundit and newspaper columnist, insisted this week that England are now just happy to be there, like Australia and South Korea, in his words.

Like many of his compatriots, Redknapp has misinterpreted Australia's development – and this is one of the most damaging oversights in modern football.

If nothing else, this tournament has shown clearly that standards have narrowed, tactics are global as everyone watches the Champions League and major competitions, and all 32 nations, for the first time, are capable and threatening.

The rise of smaller nations is another great challenge we must face because, as much as it helps that we are one, standards are rising so fast that every day we fail to innovate, we fall behind where we need to be.

This World Cup is certainly the most thrilling in history and our triumphant history is yet to be written.

As you watch the penultimate stages, try to imagine how indescribably brilliant it must be to be there in the last week of the Cup of Cups.

And join me in making it making it so in our lifetime.

17 comments so far

To be considered a top sporting nation, we must win the FiFA world cup. The cricket, league, union and netball world cups are an international joke and not good enough.

Commenter

dex

Date and time

June 28, 2014, 7:07PM

Only one sport matters; all our international champions are a joke are they? Sally Pearson, Adam Scott, Cadel Evans, Michael Clarke, Michael Foley, Jamie Dwyer ... I could fill pages. But you keep thinking that only soccer matters all the way out to 2046 (or the never never) and I'll keep enjoying Aussies being good at stacks of 'less important' sports.

p.s. I don't mind soccer, the true lesser sport in Aus.

Commenter

wear the fox hat

Location

Date and time

June 29, 2014, 7:56AM

Great article Craig. As usual, it's both ambitious and inspiring.The first milestone on our journey to the top of the footballing world should be domination of the Asian Football Confederation.This is achievable much sooner (and is a less daunting prospect) than your 2046 World Cup title aspirations, and will show that we are on the right track.

Commenter

Leon

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

June 28, 2014, 7:46PM

Tell him he's dreaming. We went backwards at this cup. We came second last in the round of 32 (only Honduras had a worse goal difference). Further the whole of Asia did not win a game - the region went backwards not just us.

Yep, lets win the Asian Cup, which will be a good effort IF we can do it. But keep it in perspective; we are in a weak region that went backwards not forwards.

Commenter

wear the fox hat

Location

Date and time

June 29, 2014, 8:00AM

Inspiring stuff, Craig. I like the ambition and the realism. Australia are not going to win the World Cup in Russia in 2018, but a World Cup win by 2046...not out of the question. As you correctly point out, the stars of that World Cup are yet to be born. I just hope I will be alive to see it! I'll be 78 in 2046...

In the meantime, I agree with Leon. Let's win the Asian Cup next year and ensure we dominate Asia from then on!

Commenter

PJ

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 28, 2014, 9:04PM

Inspiring - jeez you guys are pretty easily inspired. A 30 year plan with the only way point being a win in the weakest confederation is inspiring?

Commenter

wear the fox hat

Location

Date and time

June 29, 2014, 8:08AM

Three matches, all losses. At least the poms have the maturity to be ashamed of their national team

The Socceroos are still an embarrassing team who put more effort into making bucket loads of cash representing their overseas clubs, than competently representing their country. We should no longer send a representative team to the W.C., Australia is hopelessly out of its depth.

Commenter

D Murphy

Location

Nedlands

Date and time

June 28, 2014, 11:18PM

Clearly you didn't watch the first two matches Australia played. They weren't out of their depth at all. But you might be in this discussion.

Commenter

Richard

Location

Brisbane

Date and time

June 29, 2014, 7:18AM

Hey Murph, read Cockerill's article - a much more realistic assessment of how poor both the Socceroos and Asia were at the cup.

Are you serious? Given the overseas clubs most of them play for they will not be making "bucket loads of cash". I do not often agree with Craig Foster but on this occasion he got it right; the Australian side were good but not great - after all we lost all three games and conceded three goals in all of them, but certainly superior to the previous effort. The team played cohesive, attacking football and did so well, although the defending was less effective. Australia is not "hopelessly out its depth"in the Olympics; why should it not aim to excel in Football? It is the joke minority sports of rugby league, cricket and most of all aussie rules, the game that is so foolish you are given a point for missing, that are out of their depth. The World Cup represented definite forward progress; only two of the starters have not played in the A-League; with good planning and management Football will continue to progress. Just where do cricket, rugby, rugby league and aussie rules hope to progress to?